Looking for some support

 At one time in my life I was a healthy overweight woman with no co-morbidities. I could keep up with my kids, run, jump, play hard, go out dancing all night, clean my house, worked hard all of that. Then I got older, the kids grew up and went on to their own families. I, too, had dieted most of my adult life, losing hundreds of pounds and gaining hundreds of pounds back. Slowly, the weight took a toll on my body. Slowly I became more and more obese. I developed high blood pressure, my back was constantly aching, I had respiratory insufficiency, then sleep apnea, my feet ached, then there was heel spurs, then i was diagnosed with congestive heart failure, next was the arthritis in my knees and finally I was borderline diabetic. I had to walk with a walker, going from my front door to the car left me breathless and panting for air. Taking a shower, cooking, everything I did was a process. I wasn't living life I was just existing. I had the opportunity years ago to have WLS and didn't do it because I felt that if I had the surgery it meant I had failed at losing weight. What an idiot I was! Fast forward to today, 3-1/2 months post surgery. I can walk without losing my breath, my knees don't hurt (although my right knee is still stiff) I am off all my blood pressure meds, I sleep for 4 and 5 hours at a time with no CPAP machine, my feet don't hurt, I can walk without a walker or cane and my sugar levels are normal! Do I wish I had taken this step earlier? You bet I do, however I'm ecstatic with the results so far and feel grateful and blessed that I've had the opportunity to have a tool to help me. My initial consultation was on January 19, 2012, 2-1/2 months later I had my surgery on April 2nd. I started with a BMI of 68.4 and I'm down to a BMI of 48.2  I still have a long way to go, but I have something I didn't have before, hope and faith that I will make it and be healthy and active again. Good luckc to you on your journey.

I had this surgery and though I was prediabetic I had zero other issues other than body/joints hurting and the weight itself being hard to live with. Being relatively healthy going into this is in my opinion the best possible place to put yourself. There is a lot to consider and my surgeon described the after diet as not being a diet and to never look at eating that way again. Our anatomy is changed so that the amounts we eat afterwards are not bad for us. Its all about lifestyle changes and it is hard to get for some of us (me LOL) but once you start getting the hang of it and feel the affects its a great feeling and makes you want to stick it out for the long run. Ultimately being super heavy even if labs look good is hard on our bodies and will eventually catch up to us. If diet and exercise outside of the surgery have not worked in the past then WLS is a very viable option. Good luck with your journey where ever it may lead you.

I was reasonably healthy when I decided surgery was for me.....I decided Dec 2011 and was put on blood pressure med's in January and my knees ache from the weight some days....had an orthopedic dr tell me I was going to have to have knee replacement before I turned 45 well this october I turn 45 and I hope that I can wait about 20 years before I even go there. 

For me, it was about keeping the weight off...I know I can lose it....I lost 115 pounds in 2006-2008...it took 2 years....but I did it my way...Weigh****chers....I didn't pressure myself....I realized I don't have 2 years and I need to lose alot more than 115 lbs right now....I have a difficult home life and I need to find a job and determine what I am going to do about it! 

HTH, as everyone says...research, research, research!

I have been where you at.. I am having surgery on August 8th.. I have been trying to prepare myself mentally, eating, etc.. adn have lots some weight and said I can do this on my own. Then I say.. I don't want to repeat the same cycle. I still have over 100 pounds to loose. I still have outstanding health issues.. For me it was scary because what I am doing is for the rest of my life.. but I have been determined.. no matter what.. I am not turning back.

I hope you find the answer you are looking for.

I was very healthy pre-op with only mild high blood pressure and GERD. I was self-confident in who I was, and had long since accepted my self-identity to include "fat". I knew that I was good at what I did, and accepted as a professional worthy of the name. But my sister and I were talking on the phone about our mother (she had colon cancer, and it was in stage 4). We both knew that she wasn't going to be with us that much longer. We'd also lost our brother, and my sister was feeling worried about how our father, nearly ten years older than our mother, might not be long for this world either, even though he's healthy as an ox, age doesn't seem to care much about that. Then I mentioned I'd lost 25 lbs because I'd been sick and I always lose my appetite when I'm sick. She suggested WLS. Wow, that hit a lot of my hot buttons, and I didn't want to think about that, but I was 350 lbs, and had been obese since I was 15. So I promised to look into it.

When I found it would likely cure the GERD I was on board with having it. The GERD was destroying my voice and I needed it gone but had been told there wasn't any hope for it to be eliminated surgically. So I decided to have it. I just had a lot of hoops to jump through (you know what I'm talking about)

Then mum died. And It was a very dark time for me. When I returned to work, my best friend at work, whom I expected would be able to give me some support and help me to be grounded, she had that way of speaking that helped.... well she wasn't at work because her husband had gone to work and died of a massive coronary on New Year's Eve. Her loss, for whatever reason, compounded my loss (I knew her husband and really liked him).

A huge part of me didn't want to risk a surgery that could (however unlikely considering my overall health) kill me. But While I didn't solidly make my mind up to havev the surgery, I put off deciding not to have it. I remember one day arguing with myself mentally, and deciding not to cancel it --- yet --- because I asked myself.... if I put it off now, after all these hooops... will I someday want to have it? HAVE to have it? I knew I would. I knew my health would deteriorate, and then I'd have the surgery when I was less healthy and more prone to complications. So I put off deciding to canccel for a while

I did finally choose not to have the surgery. In fact, it was the very first thought I had post-op. Which I always think of as funny. But what was done was done, and so I had it.

The thing that startled me was the absence of pain. I had no idea how much my body HURT to be so tremendously huge. No idea how awful it felt just to cart an extra 200 pounds around with me. I might have been mostly healthy aside from the blood pressure and the GERD, but I was not really bodily happy. My body was thrilled at the loss of the weight. I might not be a penguin, but my feet were indeed supremely happy to avoid ccarting around such a huge weight.

You have already received such amazing advice. I just wanted to add my welcome, and tell you that we can do this together. The folks here veterans, newbies, and those in between are all amazing, supportive, tell it how it is people. You are in the right place! Welcome!

I just can't say how much I appreciate all this.  Thank you.  Today I feel so much more clear about what I want.  I took my kids swimming this morning and dived off the dock and played in the water and had a blast but I could feel all the extra weight holding me down, holding me back.  I really wanted to walk afterwards but was tired and exhausted and I think if I was smaller and not carrying around so much weight I would have had the energy to do that.  I have committed today to have the surgery and to stop dieting and work to rid my mind of all that diet mentaility.  My surgeon was really great about telling me to stop doing things that fuel the diet mentality like journaling my food.  They said to just keep track of protein to make sure I am getting an adequate amount.  I am also committing to giving away my scale today because that just adds to my craziness.  Thank you thank you!